Nuclear irradiation is a process in which an object or a sample may be exposed to nuclear radiation. The radiation source may be a neutron source, such as a nuclear reactor or a nuclear accelerator. Nuclear irradiation may have different applications, one such example including Neutron Capture Therapy (NCT), and in particular Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT), which has been used in cancer treatment.
Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) may be performed at a facility with a specially designed nuclear reactor or at, hospitals that have an accelerator-based neutron source. A beam of epithermal neutrons is provided by the nuclear reactor or the accelerator-based neutron source and may penetrate the samples that are placed in front of the neutron source.
Traditionally, placing the samples in front of a nuclear reactor in, order to be exposed to a specific dose of nuclear radiation may be done manually by operators. However, there are problems associated with the manual transfer and placement of the samples, including but not limited to the threat of being exposed to the nuclear radiations, as well as unstable irradiation due to stability issues associated with nuclear reactors.
There is a need in the art for methods and devices to improve the transfer process of the samples to be irradiated. There is further a need in the art for an automatic and portable transfer system for transferring the samples in front of nuclear radiation automatically, which is capable of exposing the samples to a homogeneous dose of nuclear radiation.